Over the last decade numerous medical studies have shown that the addition of undigestible fiber, in particular, cellulose fiber, to human diets aids the digestive process. Furthermore, such fibers have been clinically reported as being helpful in the treatment of diverticulitis and may be useful in the prevention of cancer of the colon. Numerous sources of fiber are known, popular among these sources is commercial bran obtained from the milling of wheat, oats, corn or soybeans which is a variable product containing various concentrations of indigestible celluloses and starch. These commercial brans have been primarily used for the manufacture of food products and have been incorporated because of their very high fiber content, in various breakfast cereals. In addition to the aforesaid general qualities of fiber material, the Food and Drug Administration has recognized bran as a safe and effective laxative when taken in the amounts of between about 6 and about 14 grams per day.
One of the principal problems with increasing the fiber intake of human diets has been the difficulty in compounding high fiber content materials in a manner which is not only effective but is palatable and sufficiently attractive in taste to make it appealing to the consumer. Various formulations such as cookies, confections, dispersible powders, chewable tablets, and the like are known but are generally recognized as deficient in palatability or convenience.
Dispersible powders containing fibrous materials such as psyllium or bran powders have been made and used for the in situ preparation of drinks containing them.
Premixed, ready-to-drink fiber containing products have not heretofore been made. Psyllium is not suitable in such products since it gels rapidly in water.
It is further generally recognized that cereal brans would be more suitable for the preparation of aqueous dispersions but they have undesirable physical characteristics that make the preparation of stable liquid products very difficult. They are coarse, fibrous, have a strong characteristic taste and a grainy mouthfeel. Furthermore, they settle and cake rapidly when dispersed in aqueous media and are difficult to redisperse into uniform suspensions.
We have now found how to overcome these problems.
The recognition of bran as a useful laxative product was recognized as early as U.S. Pat. No. 366,992 to Armstrong whose product however was a solid material. A bran food is also disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 1,189,133 to John L. Kellogg and a similar solid composition in U.S. Pat. No. 1,206,804 to Ashley V. Black. An early mention of a beverage utilizing bran is found in U.S. Pat. No. 1,631,830 to Laurel A. Negly and Percy S. Black whose intention appears to be produce either a syrup or a powder which can be suspended to form a beverage of coffee-like taste. Apart from recognition of the "ingredients" as being "healthful" there is no disclosure of the bran being maintained with any degree of particulate integrity.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,262,472 to William J. Eisenbeiss discusses a non-alcoholic carbonated beverage in which bran is soaked in saline solution below the boiling point of the liquid in order to extract the albumin from the bran. It is not clear however, whether after extraction the bran solids are discarded or whether they are kept in the mixture with the other components. Since the patentee speaks of "steeping the bran" the indications would be that the solid materials are discarded after the procedure.
The medicinal history of bran for laxative purposes is well summarized in U.S. Pat. No. 4,328,215 to Gabby et al. who discloses a solid bran containing composition in tablet form as a bulking or laxative agent.
It will thus be seen that heretofore the art does not teach a bran drink containing substantial proportions of fibrous material in substantially intact form.